The Return
by noneko
Summary: Leaving was the easy part. Revan and the Exile return from the Unknown Regions to face their toughest battle yet: returning to those they left behind.


**The Return, Chapter 1**.

* * *

"Unidentified ship requesting to land, Sir."

Captain Dol Grenn of the Telos Security Force looked up at the speaker. The woman in front of him saluted smartly and clasped her hands behind her back, reminding Grenn of the datapads given to new recruits on the proper military stance. Soka Linu was hardly a new recruit, having been on the station for over three years now, but still, the resemblance was striking.

His silence must have made her impatient. "Sir? What are your orders?"

Grenn sighed and shifted a pile of datapads on his desk to the other end, and took a long glance at the datapad that Linu had handed him. It bought him the few moments of thought that helped him make his decision. "Get a few others and head down there. Bring all the passengers to me."

Soka Linu saluted again and turned stiffly on her heel to walk out. Grenn watched her leave until the door slid shut on her polished boots. Then, he reached over to a com on her desk and pressed it on. It surged to life in a crackle of static.

"Ramana."

A soft female voice, the voice of one of the many secretaries that worked on the station, came out from the speaker, not quite disguised by the static. The TSF really needed new equipment; all of theirs was falling apart. All the money being poured into Telos was spent rebuilding, with no thought to upgrading what was already there. "Yes, Captain Grenn?"

"Is the Admiral in? This is important."

Ramana's voice fell silent for a moment, and Grenn had no doubt that she was checking the Admiral's office. "I'll bring him out."

Grenn waited for a few more moments, until a man's voice, rich and deep, joined Ramana's smooth tones. "What is it, Grenn? I'm kind of busy."

"Sorry to interrupt, Admiral, but this is something I thought you would want to know. An unidentified ship just requested permission to land."

Grenn could hear the Admiral sigh even through the poor com connection. "I don't see the urgency in this situation, Grenn."

"Carth," Grenn said patiently, using the Admiral's first name. Normally, he called Carth Onasi by his last name or his rank of Admiral, but this was a special situation. "It's the _Ebon Hawk_. The _Ebon Hawk_ is requesting permission to dock."

Silence came from the other end. He could hear Ramana's confused voice, and then he could hear Admiral Onasi's voice. He couldn't discern any emotion whatsoever.

"Keep me updated, Captain," Admiral Onasi ordered, his tone clipped. "And contact Master Shan."

"Will do."

----

"We're almost there, Revan."

Revan glanced at the speaker, the one-time Jedi Exile, now known simply as Alene Taveel. The woman was staring at the navigational screen in front of her, her eyes darting from one potential course to another. Telos shone, large and bright, through the windows of the ship.

"So it would appear," Revan replied airily, shifting her position in her chair. "It seems they've done some rebuilding since I left."

Alene's gaze flickered over to Revan for a single moment- the only indication that the younger woman had heard. After a few more moments of silence, Alene's thin voice reached Revan's ears. "The Admiral has been quite vigilant in that respect."

Revan smirked. "I'm sure he has. Carth always did like his projects."

Alene's answer was lost as an authoritative voice crackled through the speakers. "Unidentified Freighter, you have permission to land. Please proceed to Docking Bay 38 A."

Revan turned to Alene and smiled. "I think that's our cue." The younger woman leaned back and smiled wanly, brushing her dark hair out of her eyes before she started tapping orders into the navicomputer. Revan turned back to stare at the approaching planet.

_Has it really been seven years? It seems like less._

She shook her head, ridding her mind of her thoughts. This wasn't a time to be introspective. This was a time to act, with a clear head and a strong heart. She had slipped out of the lives of her companions seven years ago, and she doubted that she would be able to slip in again. The best chance of being forgiven was a full-frontal assault. She smiled softly, images of possible battle tactics running through her head, ships replaced with faces.

The _Hawk_ whizzed past different parts of Citadel Station, and Revan had to admit that it looked like Telos was thriving. The familiar pang of guilt shot through her conscience, reminding her that it shouldn't have to be this way, that she had caused the need to rebuild in the first place. She hated feeling guilty. After all, she had done it for a reason, hadn't she? She had seen the danger beyond the Mandalorians and gone to combat it. No one could blame her for those caught in the crossfire. She buried her dark thoughts underneath the tangled layers of her memory, as she always had done, and forced herself to think that, yes, the Station was very pretty. It sparkled with thousands of lights, lighting up the blackness of space with a bright glow. The ship turned sharply, and she grabbed onto the sides of her chair.

"Alene, can't you make this landing a little easier?" she growled good-naturedly "You're turning out to be one hell of a bad pilot!"

Alene's eyebrow twitched, a sign that Revan had said something upsetting. Of course, everything seemed to upset her these days. It hadn't been like this when they were both Knights. Things had been simpler then.

"I'm not a pilot, Revan," Alene said simply, refusing to meet the older woman's eyes. "Unless you want to try to control this ship, I suggest you refrain from making comments about my lack of ability."

Revan shrugged. "Fair enough. Force knows I would have crashed this ship dozens of times if Carth hadn't been there."

A ghost of a smile crossed Alene's lips, and disappeared as quickly as it had come. A comfortable silence stretched between the two, until Alene's voice broke through the quiet. "We're coming up on the dock now. It seems our appearance has warranted an official welcome."

Revan sat up straight and looked out the window. They were close enough for her to make out several blurry figures through the clear plasteel on the docking bay door. They were all wearing the black and yellow of the Telos Security Force, but beyond that, she couldn't tell much about them.

"Well then," she said grimly, a trace of dark amusement bleeding into her voice. "I suppose we'll have to prepare for the worst."

---

Soka Linu tapped her foot impatiently on the deck floor, ignoring the movement around her. She had managed to drag three of her fellow TSF officers to the docking bay by the sheer force of her will, and they wouldn't be allowed to return to their quarters until this business was completed. After all, Captain Grenn had put her in charge, and there was no way anything was going to go wrong.

"Are they just going to stay out there, or are they going to dock?" Soka's friend Yima asked, sighing and cracking her knuckles impatiently.

"That's why you're still a Lieutenant, Yima," Batu Rem, looking as if Soka had just pulled him out of bed (which she had) said with a quiet smirk. "No patience."

Yima's retort was lost as the bay's alarm went off next to the group, and Soka looked through the clear doors that led to the docking bay in time to see the unidentified ship enter the bay. She narrowed her eyes as it slowly set itself down. She had seen that ship before. Once, seven years ago, on a holoscreen as the Heroes of the Republic were given their medals. And again, three years ago, when she had just joined the TSF. It was the ship the Exiled Jedi had taken when she fled Telos, and the same ship she had ridden in when the same Jedi saved it from Darth Nihilus.

The ship had become more of a legend with each retelling from the tale, gradually morphing from a retired smuggling freighter to the prized possession of some Outer Rim ruler, stolen in some grand caper. The _EbonHawk_ was known by any sentient with a holoscreen. And now it was back.

Soka took a deep breath and felt at her belt for the comforting coolness of her weapon. There had to be a reason it was back, and she had to find out. She just hoped she was up to the task.

---

"Master Shan?"

Bastila Shan looked up from her datapad as Grenn entered the room that led to her quarters. Grenn took in his surroundings with the careless façade of a military man, even through he knew in the back of his mind that the Jedi was on his side. Old habits died hard, and distrust of the Jedi was hard to let go of.

Bastila smiled and put aside her datapad. She brushed a few stubborn strands of hair away from her face and smoothed her robes before she spoke. Her voice sounded tired. "Captain Grenn. It is always nice to see you."

"Likewise. I trust you are doing well?" Mindless pleasantries. The mark of every civilized society. Talk about nothing until both speakers are either too bored or uncomfortable and decide to leave. But that wasn't what he was here for. Without waiting for her answer, he pushed onward, ripping through layers of diplomacy in the process. "Admiral Onasi asked me to relay some information to you."

"Did he?" If Bastila was bothered by the breach in courtesy, she didn't show it. Although Grenn supposed that the Jedi could have reached into his mind and taken the information from it anyway, leaving him none the wiser for it. But Bastila didn't seem like that kind of Jedi. She mostly kept to herself these days, coming out occasionally for a public appearance or a dinner with the Admiral.

"An unidentified ship has landed on the Station, Master Shan. It's the _Ebon Hawk_." Grenn noted with some interest that Bastila visibly started at the mention of the ship's name. Her mouth opened in surprise, but it was several moments before she was able to gather herself enough to speak.

"No, that's impossible. I would have felt… are you sure?"

"Positive. It's the same ship."

Bastila's hands moved to grip her robes tightly, until her knuckles turned white. For that moment, she looked far younger than her twenty-six years, and Grenn felt the sudden urge to close the distance between then and wrap her in his arms, like he always did when any of his three children were upset.

"Then she's back."

Grenn had to strain to catch her words, but he didn't understand what she was talking about anyway. Jedi-related business, he was sure of it. After all, the last time the _Ebon Hawk_ had docked on Telos, it had been piloted by a Jedi. And, judging from Bastila's reaction, a Jedi still controlled it.

"Would you like to go down to the ship, Master Shan?" Grenn asked. Bastila nodded forcefully and stood up, brushing imaginary dust off of her robe. She took a few seconds to compose herself, and from the way her lips moved, she was reciting the Code to calm down.

"As soon as possible, Captain," she said sweetly, her poise and grace restored. The Perfect Jedi, they called her. It was only now that he could see why. Grenn smirked and led the way out.

---

Soka Linu shifted uncomfortably as she stood outside the _Ebon Hawk_. The ship had remained eerily silent ever since it had landed, and Soka kept expecting someone to burst from it. As of yet, no one had.

Yima sighed again, and Soka felt the sudden urge to slap the older woman, superior or not. This was serious business.

Batu Rem tapped her shoulder, shaking her out of her reverie. She looked up in time to see the ramp of the ship open. Her hand automatically went to the blaster pistol in her holster, but she forcibly moved it to her shock stick instead. She could hear footsteps moving closer from inside the ship.

"Declare yourself!" she called out roughly. She had learned over the years that the only way to really get things done was to take command of the situation. There was no answer. She tried again.

"This is the Telos Security Force. Declare yourself!"

A voice wafted from inside the ship. It sounded vaguely bored. "We haven't done anything wrong."

Soka took a step forward. "I have orders to bring you to see Captain Dol Grenn."

"Well you can tell Captain Dol Grenn to-" the voice was cut off by another – softer, quieter. The two voices fell silent for a moment, but the small snatches of conversation that drifted to Soka's ears made it clear that the two were having some kind of argument. Finally, the second voice answered.

"We have only just arrived, and we mean no harm. It is truly necessary to detain us?"

Soka glanced at Batu, who shrugged. It seemed as though answering would be up to her. "It's protocol," she said uncomfortably. "Any unknown ship will be grounded and the crew detained. We've had enough bad experiences for this to be vital." Like that time when the Exchange tried to muscle back into the Telosian marker. Or when Czerka Corp decided it didn't like being banned from the planet.

There was an audible sigh from the darkness of the ship's interior. "Very well then."

Soka gripped her shock stick as two women descended the loading ramp. They seemed harmless enough at first glace, but when Yima gasped, Soka looked again. Hanging from both women's belts was the unmistakable hilt of a lightsaber. Soka raised her weapon in front of her, knowing that if either of the women decided to attack, she was Selkath bait.

The first one gave Soka a dirty look, but the second one simply blinked and furrowed her brow. She looked familiar. Soka racked her brain for the reason why, but none was forthcoming. _Probably was one of those bleeding-heart types that came through after the bombing._ She gestured at the two women, making sure that her shock stick was visible. "Your weapons, please."

The first one brushed a lock of dark red hair behind her ear and waved her hand airily. "You don't need to take our weapons." The second woman glanced sharply at the first, a scandalized look crossing her face.

Soka frowned, and started to move towards them, but Yima placed a hand on her shoulder. "We don't need to take their weapons." She said mechanically, her eyes slightly glazed and unseeing. Soka snorted and brushed Yima's hand off. Batu gave her a curious look. He obviously had never seen the Force in action before.

"You can't get out of it that easily, _Jedi_. Not all of us are as weak-willed as the Lieutenant here." She turned to the two women, and let her other hand play along her holster. "No weapons on the Station."

The second woman glanced nervously at the first and unhooked her saber from her belt. There was a loud clang as the metal hit the floor in front of Soka, and in that instant, she knew where she had seen the woman before.

"_I'm going out," the Jedi said, pushing Soka roughly to the side. Soka's eyes widened, and she opened her mouth to protest. The Jedi glared at her, and she closed it again._

"_Just… just make sure you don't get into trouble," she ordered lamely, hugging her blaster to her chest. She still hadn't gotten the hang of this job yet. The Jedi nodded curtly and walked past, the young man and the old woman following close behind._

"You." She surprised herself with her own boldness. "You're Alene Taveel, aren't you? I recognize you."

Alene looked sharply at Soka, as if trying to place her face amongst the thousands she had probably seen. After a moment, she spoke, her lips barely moving. "You guarded me when I was under house arrest." Soka nodded.

The first woman turned to glare incredulously at Alene. "You were under house arrest? When was this?"

Alene met the other woman, glare for glare. From the surprise that flashed across the other woman's face, this display of backbone was unexpected. "I don't need to tell you everything that has ever happened to me, Re… _Seraya_. What happened in between my Exile and my meeting you is _my_ information to give out as I choose."

The woman named Seraya fell silent, but Soka thought that if she took her shock stick and passed it between the woman, it would cut through the visible amount of tension that hung thick and heavy on the moment.

Seraya glared for a few more seconds, then took off her own lightsaber and sent it clanging to join the first. Soka leaned down and picked them both up, then signaled for Batu to open the doors. Yima was shaking her head and mumbling to herself, one of the more schizophrenic side effects to being mind-tricked. It would pass over soon.

"Well now," she said, smiling brightly. "That wasn't that hard, now was it?"

If looks could kill, she would have been dead four times over.

­­---

_What are you trying to accomplish, Revan? We could have come in without the tantrum._

The two women walked swiftly down the main corridor of the Entertainment Module, the TSF officers flanking them in front and behind. Revan eyed her confiscated lightsaber, hanging off the belt of the leader of the group, and sent her mental reply. The women had found that it was easier to simply talk to each other in their heads, instead of wasting time and secrecy talking out loud.

_It doesn't feel right. I've had that weapon since the mind wipe._

Alene sighed inwardly. The mind wipe had changed Revan's memories, and there were still times where the older woman had trouble sorting out what was real, and what was planted, but her personality had remained the same, for better or for worse. She was still the same headstrong and impulsive woman that she had always been, and those attributes had shown no sign of waning as Revan got older. Maturity didn't always come with age, it seemed.

_You'll get it back. The woman's intentions were honorable. You must have read them yourself, in between trying to mind-trick them. _

Revan rolled her eyes. _Yes, Master Taveel._

Alene found herself smiling despite herself. _You used to sound that way when Master Vrook would lecture you._

The corridor curved, and the two women fell silent for a few long minutes. Finally, Revan spoke again, her mental voice sounding amused.

_Then I must have sounded that way most of the time. Force knows how many times I was sent to him for punishment. I was a schutta of a kid._

_Some things never change,_ Alene thought dryly. A mental snort from Revan was her only reply.

"We're almost there," the leader of the group, Soka, the others called her, said shortly. Alene smiled thinly in relief. The sooner they got in, the sooner they got out, and then… and then she could try and put her life back together.

Revan made an inscrutable noise in the back of her throat. Alene looked up in time to see a beautiful young woman step out of the doorway in front of them, a frozen look on her face.

Soka saluted her. "Master Shan."

The woman nodded quickly. "I'll take them to see Captain Grenn. You've done well."

Soka nodded, and signaled to her companions. They were gone within in few moments, disappearing beyond one of the curves in the hallway. Revan's eyes hadn't left the woman's face.

The woman, Master Shan, only glanced for a moment at Alene. Her stony gaze was locked on Revan's, her look appraising and angry and sad and joyous all at once. She seemed to find it difficult to speak; her mouth opened several times, but no words came out. Finally, she sighed.

"So," she said quietly, a grim smile crossing her perfectly shaped lips. "You're back."

* * *

**Author's Note:** So begins my attempt at a multi-chaptered fic. Wish me luck:P Questions, comments, suggestions... tell me about them. I'm always open to ideas. 


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